Chicago mayor addresses violence in city
Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot addressed reporters on gun violence in the city.
Five people were killed by gunfire and many more injured, including an 8-year-old girl who was shot at a barbecue, in 37 separate shooting episodes in Chicago over the weekend, police said.
A tally sent by police to Fox News on Monday said that in addition to the five dead, there were 47 people wounded in the gunfire from 6 p.m. on Friday to 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.
In a news conference on Monday afternoon Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot sounded an oft-heard alarm: “We have way too many guns on the street.”
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She said she just learned that the police have this year taken 6,954 illegal guns off the street, a 20 percent increase over the same period last year.
“We have too many incidents that are petty disputes that are getting solved by somebody fighting and we still are vexed by these large crowds that gather between 11 and 4 a.m. where people are outside enjoying the summer and unfortunately become the targets of people who want to create havoc in communities by shooting into large crowds.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot addresses guests after being sworn in back in May. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
On Saturday around 3:15 a.m. a 19-year-old man was standing on a sidewalk in Humboldt Park, which is on the west side of Chicago, with a group of men when shots were fired, according to police. They said the teen was shot in the armpit and transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Also in Humboldt Park, about 15 hours later, police said a 47-year-old man was in a vehicle when “an unknown offender” approached the victim and fired shots.
The man was hit twice and transported to an area hospital in critical condition. He was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
Police said no one is in custody in either case.
Chicago police said the other three victims killed by gunfire over the weekend include a 16-year-old male, 29-year-old male and 39-year-old male.
Authorities said a drive-by shooting on Chicago’s West Side early Sunday wounded six people, including one who is reported in critical condition.
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Chicago police said the five women and one man were gathered in the Garfield Park neighborhood for a street party with more than 100 people when someone in a light-colored sedan opened fire.
Around 2:45 a.m. someone walked through Garfield Park and also started shooting, striking the man and women, police said, adding that “at least two people fired back at the offender.”
A 25-year-old man was taken to a local hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the back. The five injured women were hospitalized in stable condition.
Police said that leading up to the gunfire, “several altercations occurred within the patrons of the gathering.”
No arrests have been made in the case and the shooting remains under investigation by detectives.
Another drive-by shooting was reported later on Sunday, during which an 8-year-old girl was hit, according to Chicago police.
They said the girl was at a barbecue in Humboldt Park on the West Side around 3:55 p.m. when someone inside a blue Dodge Charger drove by and opened fire.
Two of the shots grazed 8-year-old Adrianna Barron in her lower leg, according to WBBM-TV.
A witness told Fox 32 that the girl was outside, playing next to her mom when the shooters drove by in the blue car.
“They drove through the block three times, but the first time we thought it was ok because we know them,” she told the television station. “Then they pulled around a second and third time, laughed at us and then I heard six to 10 shots.”
She added that police just missed the shooters, passing their car as they drove off.
Chardonnay Burks, who identified herself as the girl’s 18-year-old sister, told Fox 32 that she was at work when someone called her and said her sister had been shot.
“How are you going to come through shooting when you see kids?” Burks told the station. “They were aiming for somebody else obviously, but my little brother is four and was outside. He could have shot him too.”
The little girl has been treated and released from the hospital, WBBM-TV reported.
They said no one is in custody in that case.
“We need and we will have a comprehensive plan for what the police department would call these Tier One neighborhoods, the neighborhoods who are most plagued by violence,” Lightfoot told reporters on Monday.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
